The "Media Specific Analysis" is a term taken from N. Katherine Hayles Writing Machines and adapts a kind of close-reading practice to digital literary texts. Thus it blends attention to the formal features of a digital object WITH awareness of its medium, modality, and interactive affordances.
Here is a simple sample MSA I wrote on Dan Waber's Strings: MSA - Waber - Strings
From the syllabus:
MediaSpecificAnalysis (MSA): choose an assigned digital literary work from and preparea5-10minutepresentation(andassociatedwikipage)tosharewiththeclass,reflectinguponthedigitalartworkassignedfortheday.Youraimisto:
a.) introduce and situate the work (providing a context in relation to key issues in digital literature and theory),
b.) demonstrate selected dimensions / affordance (How does one play, read, operate it? )
c.) and provide a brief analysis or interpretation.
When possible,you should also seek to connect your presentation with ongoing class discussion and gesture towards how it might be taught in a H.S. or college classroom.
You will sign up well in advance of your presentation date;
You must select the work and post the title and link to the wikiat three days in advance;selectionsare first come, first served.You may not duplicate a selection someone else has chosen. When your MSA is complete, you should share it as a page on the wiki. (Tweet the wiki page URL to #iupelit as well.)*
About the MSA
The "Media Specific Analysis" is a term taken from N. Katherine Hayles Writing Machines and adapts a kind of close-reading practice to digital literary texts. Thus it blends attention to the formal features of a digital object WITH awareness of its medium, modality, and interactive affordances.Here is a simple sample MSA I wrote on Dan Waber's Strings: MSA - Waber - Strings
From the syllabus:
MediaSpecificAnalysis (MSA): choose an assigned digital literary work from and preparea5-10minutepresentation(andassociatedwikipage)tosharewiththeclass,reflectinguponthedigitalartworkassignedfortheday.Youraimisto:
b.) demonstrate selected dimensions / affordance (How does one play, read, operate it? )
c.) and provide a brief analysis or interpretation.
When possible,you should also seek to connect your presentation with ongoing class discussion and gesture towards how it might be taught in a H.S. or college classroom.
When your MSA is complete, you should share it as a page on the wiki. (Tweet the wiki page URL to #iupelit as well.)*